TOP 25 ON THE ROAD: HONORABLE MENTION

TWO MORE STAR TURNS BY BROADWAY JOE

1. Namath outguns Unitas in their final showdown, September 24, 1972, Memorial Stadium, Baltimore

       Joe Namath had famously defeated the Baltimore Colts in the 1969 Super Bowl by playing an uncharacteristically Johnny Unitas-type game, conservative, clutch and smart. But in 1970 Namath broke his wrist against Baltimore and the Jets lost thrice to the Colts without him. At Memoral Stadium on September 24, 1972, however, Namath was back, bombing away in a gem of a showdown:

       Namath nailed Eddie Bell for a 65-yard TD pass.

       Unitas responded with a 40-yard flea-flicker TD.

       Two field goals put the Colts up 13-7.

       Namath hit John Riggins on a fly pattern for a 67-yard TD.

Don McCauley stunned the Jets, returning the kick-off 93 yards for a touchdown. 20-14, Baltimore.

       Namath retaliated immediately. Having stretched Baltimore’s zone, he curled Bell back in for 43. Then he hit Don Maynard for a 28-yard TD.

       Gerry Philbin sacked Unitas, who fumbled. Namath spiraled his third touchdown pass in a minute-and-a-half, hitting Rich Caster for 10 yards. At halftime Namath had 281 yards and a 27-20 lead.

       Down 30-20 in the third Johnny U helmed a 14-play, 66-yard classic drive. Namath stayed with his more modern language, launching a 79-yard TD pass to Caster on the very next play.

       Unitas stayed cool, marching 61 yards in the nine plays before capping the drive with a 22-yard gem to Tom Matte. 37-34, Jets.

       The Colts blitzed but Namath was ready, having spotted a green scrub, Rex Kern, at cornerback in single coverage on Caster. Presto! An 80-yard pass. 44-34.

Unitas finished with his most completions ever, 26 (on 44 throws), 376 yards and two touchdowns. Namath only threw 28 passes, completing 15, yet his perfect reading of the defense produced 496 yards and six touchdowns.

It was the last great shootout between the sheriff and the outlaw and the outlaw won in style.

2. Namath Bootlegs then beats the Giants in overtime, November 10, 1974, Yale Bowl, New Haven

       A game between the New York Jets and the New York Giants mattered even if the Giants were 2-6 and the Jets 1-7; even if the game was shuttled off to the Yale Bowl in New Haven, even if the stadium didn’t fill up, blacking out television coverage in New York. “This means a lot to us,” said Joe Namath

By that November 10, 1974 game, New York’s biggest football star was playing on completely ruined knees and the Giant organization that loathed him focused on knocking him from the game if not injuring him outright. Namath responded with one final, quintessential performance, winning this game and inspiring his teammates to salvage their season.

With eight minutes to go, the Giants led 20-13 when Namath guided his charges to the Giant 3.       He called 34 Wham, a running play sending Emerson Boozer off-tackle and, hopefully, three yards into the end zone to tie the game. At the line, however, Namath saw something-- linebacker Brad Van Pelt planning to slide toward the middle. But Namath didn’t audible. He didn’t even hint to his own players that he planned a change. He just called for the ball and swung into action.

Namath’s improvisation fooled everyone, down to Boozer. The Jets ran the play with such sincerity that the Giants were utterly fooled; Namath wobbled on a weak side bootleg toward the end zone.

At the last second Spider Lockhart and Eldridge Small reached striking distance—they could at least make Namath pay by slamming him to the ground. Namath had the gall, no, the balls, to raise one hand and waving off the defenders, warning them not to ruin his glorious moment. Astonishingly, both pulled up as Namath tied the game. “They had to respect the man’s magic,” Mark Kriegel wrote in “Namath.”

Namath, of course, showed no mercy. A new NFL rule called for overtime and Namath piloted the Jets to football’s first regular season overtime touchdown, passing to Boozer in the end zone for a 26-20 win. In his last great act, Namath finished off his rivals—the Giants dropped their remaining games, finishing 2-12—while lifting his own team, as the Jets reeled off six straight wins to end the season at a respectable 7-7.

METS POST-SEASON MAGIC, TRAVEL EDITION

1. Koosman evens the Series, October 12 1969, Memorial Stadium, Baltimore

       The Miracle Mets of 1969 had never won a World Series game and their Game 1 loss to Baltimore had been so decisive that the New York papers speculated about the bubble finally bursting and Oriole fans started thinking sweep.

Desperately needing Game 2 to preserve their confidence and deflate the O’s aura

the Mets won the way they had all season--not because of luck and destiny but because of great pitching and baseball smarts.

. Jerry Koosman, who’d won 17 games with a 2.28 ERA, had watched ace Tom Seaver struggle in Game 1 against Baltimore’s aggressive attack so he tempted the Orioles with bad pitches, keeping the powerful O’s lineup off-balance. By the second inning, he was thinking a no-hitter, by the sixth inning, so was everyone else.

Donn Clendenon’s fourth-inning homer had put New York up 1-0 but in the seventh, Baltimore ruined the no-hit bid, the shutout and the lead when Paul Blair singled, stole second and scored on Brooks Robinson’s single. Those were Baltimore’s only two hits all day.

Still, in the ninth it was tied, 1-1 and the Mets needed some timely hitting. With two outs, 36-year-old Ed Chares singled and with a 2-2 count on Jerry Grote, manager Gil Hodges had Charles running. Befitting the Mets’ knack for perfect execution of risky plays at crucial moments, Grote knocked the ball safely to left; because Charles was in motion he advanced to third. Al Weis banged a high slider to left for another single and Charles trotted home with the go-ahead run. He likely would not have scored from second.

With two outs in the ninth Koosman suddenly started aiming the ball. After two walks, Hodges called on Ron Taylor. On a full count, with the runners going, Brooks Robinson grounded the ball wide of third base. Knowing Robinson was slow, Charles had played particularly deep at third, allowing him time to trap the ball off his chest. After realizing he couldn’t get the force at third, he was still able to nab the plodding Robinson at first. The Mets had won their first World Series game. It was time to go home and teach the Orioles what Mets magic was really all about.

2.  Jon Matlack shuts down the Big Red Machine, October 7, 1973, Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati.

       In Game 2 of the Mets’ NLCS against Cincinnati, Jon Matlack knew he had no margin for mistakes.

       In 1973 the Mets’ meager offense provided little comfort: During the season Matlack had his skull fractured on a line drive but pitched just eleven days later, yet the Mets rewarded his heart and his 3.20 ERA with just a 14-16 record.

       That hitting was so paltry that Tom Seaver allowed just two runs on six hits in Game 1 of the NLCS but suffered a 2-1 loss.

That offense managed just one more run (on Rusty Staub’s homer) through the first eight innings of Matlack’s Riverfront Park start on October 7, as Matlack faced a lineup that featured future Hall of Famers Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, Johnny Bench, and Tony Perez.

In this best-of-five playoff, Matlack knew the Mets absolutely could not lose the first two. So with no room for error, the lefty locked down the Reds’ big bats, striking out nine and allowing just two meaningless singles and three walks.

Finally in the ninth New York thrashed out four runs for a 5-0 final. But Matlack had pitched well enough to win virtually on his own.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL CLASSICS

1. Sid Luckman leads Columbia past Army, 1938, West Point

       Army had a 6-0 lead after three minutes, a 12-0 advantage after one quarter and an 18-6 lead at the half. On this afternoon of TK, 1938 at West Point, it looked like yet another triumph for the powerful Cadets over the mediocre Columbia Lions.

       But in the third quarter, Columbia intercepted Army twice and the Lions staged a remarkable comeback, second in their history only to their 1947 upset also of Army.

Quarterback Sid Luckman zipped a pass across the middle to Johnny Seigal for 17 yards. Art Radvilas rushed for 15 yards and before being tackled lateraled to Gerry Seidel who gained five more. Two plays later Seidel scored.

Army strode to Columbia’s 9 but floundered and then missed a field goal. Beginning at the 20, Luckman ran for a first down, handed to Radvilas for another, then threw a 20-yard pass to Siegal and a 26-yard pass to Radvilas, who made a stunning catch with two men on him. He was knocked unconscious on the play but Columbia couldnn’t be stopped. Three plays later Luckman found Siegal on Army’s 3. When Seidel plunged into the end zone and Luckman kicked the extra point, the Lions suddenly, surprisingly led 20-18. Army had 5:40 to rally but they were as good as done.

THE KNICKS SHOW THEIR CHAMPIONSHIP STUFF

1. Jerry West makes a classic shot but the Knicks win anyway, April 29, 1970, the Forum, Los Angeles

       Dave DeBusschere lay sprawled underneath the basket, consumed by disbelief as the Los Angeles Lakers mobbed their hero, Jerry West.

       Just a blink earlier, Dick Barnett had led the New York Knicks in a surprising comeback--down 56-42 at halftime, they’d ridden Barnett’s 15 fourth-quarter points to a 98-97 lead in the pivotal Game 3 of the 1970 NBA finals at the Forum in L.A. Then DeBusschere gave the Knicks what seemed like an insurmountable 102-100 lead with just three seconds left and L.A. out of timeouts.

       But West, who’d finish with 34 points despite a bruised and swollen left hand, didn’t get the nickname “Mr. Clutch” for nothing. He took the inbound pass from Wilt Chamberlain, dribbled three times and--with Willis Reed on him, the clock expiring and the Knick bench set to exult--let fly from 63 feet.

This was no desperate heave, it was vintage West—unbroken concentration, perfect follow-through. The shot sailed air above the Knicks and Lakers before dropping, with a swish, right through the net. The fans screamed, the Lakers hugged and the Knicks stared in dismay.

But there was no three-pointer back then and the Lakers had merely tied, not won the game. Chamberlain, who hadn’t bothered stepping out of bounds for the pass (but got away with it) and who’d gone to the locker room without seeing West’s shot, had to be retrieved. DeBusschere scraped himself up and in the five-minute overtime the Knicks showed their resilience by rendering moot West’s big moment. With the teams even at 108 Reed hit a free throw for his 38th point; when West missed a jumper, Reed controlled the boards and Barnett added one last bucket to clinch the 111-108 triumph. The Knicks’ perseverance provided a big win and were a sign of things to come in this Finals.

2. Knicks Win 18th Straight with comeback against Royals en route to first title, November 28, 1969, Cleveland Arena

       Early in the 1969 season the Knicks won 17 straight games, establishing themselves as a front-runner for the NBA championship. Believing they were really onto something special the Knicks weren’t satisfied: they wanted to set a new NBA record by winning 18 straight.

But on November 28, 1969 against the Cincinnati Royals (in the Cleveland Arena) the Knicks came out flat and fell behind 30-23 after one quarter. “We were playing in slow motion,” said coach Red Holzman.

       Then Holzman’s shock troops, the Minutemen--Dave Stallworth, Mike Riordan and Cazzie Russell-- went 12-16 in the second pushing the Knicks out front but the starters again struggled in the third and Cincinnati reclaimed the lead.

With just 1:49 left, the Knicks trailed 101-98 and the streak seemed over. Even when Oscar Robertson (33 points, 10 assists) fouled out the Royals seemingly pulled out an ace from their sleeve--his replacement was coach Bob Cousy, who’d played on the 1959 Boston Celtic squad that had won 17 straight and who’d recently activated himself as player-coach.

The once legendary guard made a crosscourt hook pass to Norm Van Lier for two points, then added two free throws as the Royals built their lead to 105-100 with 16 seconds left.

But Dick Barnett stutter-dribbled right past the old man, scrambling the Royals’ defense and getting Reed an open shot—he missed, got his rebound and was fouled. He hit two, 105-102.

Holzman told his men to overplay the ball. Unable to inbound against pressure the Celtics called time. Cousy took over inbounding duty but Riordan harassed him and Dave DeBusschere swiped his pass to Tom Van Arsdale then scored easily.

105-104, six seconds left.

       Van Arsdale caught the next inbound but was greeted by DeBusschere and Riordan, both going for the steal. Van Arsdale desperately passed but Willis Reed was there too, deflecting the throw. Walt Frazier was there as well, grabbing the sphere with two seconds left. Frazier fired and missed but the ball came right back to Frazier, who grabbed it and shot again in mid-air as time expired. He missed again… but Van Arsdale was called for the foul.

       Clyde coolly stepped to the line and buried two shots, icing the record-setting 106-105 win. The Knicks, normally low-key professionals who played as if they expected to win, celebrated jubilantly for two hours in the locker room. More and more, these Knicks seemed like a team for the history books.

KNICKS OF THE 90s, PLAYOFF THRILLS

1. Knicks end 26 game losing streak in Boston to win Game 5, May 6th, 1990, Boston Garden

       The New York Knicks did not win at the Boston Garden. Ever. By the spring of 1990 it was 16 years since a playoff win there and six years—and 26 straight games—since they’d enjoyed even a regular season win on the Celtics’ parquet floor.

       A decisive Game 5 certainly didn’t seem a likely time to break this run, especially under the circumstances. The 52-win Boston squad led by Larry Bird had finished seven games ahead of New York and beaten them the first two games of this best-of-five opening round playoff series—only once in NBA history had a team rebounded after losing the first two games to win.

       But the Knicks had pulled out a tight third game and Patrick Ewing had scored 44 in Game 4 to send the series back to Boston.

 In Game 5, the Knicks trailed by nine early but finally found a way to win in Boston—with a total team effort. Gerald Wilkins arrived at the last minute because his wife was in labor but had 12 points and 8 assists, Charles Oakley scored 26 and hauled in 17 rebounds, and Ewing, who’d finish with 31 points, eight rebounds, ten assists and four blocks, scored 14 in the third as the Knicks grabbed an 87-83 lead. Maurice Cheeks finished with 21 points and seven assists and teamed with Trent Tucker in Stu Jackson’s pressing, trapping defense to smother the Celtics—one turning point in the second half came when Tucker swiped the ball and Cheeks recovered, setting up a Charles Oakley dunk. That’s right, Oak jammed one down, a sure sign of situation not-normal; Larry Bird, by contrast, missed a wide-open dunk. One last sign: with two minutes left and the Knicks in danger of a 24-second clock violation, Ewing chased down a loose ball in the corner and heaved a seeing-eye 3-pointer. Swish.

The Knicks won 121-114 and destroyed the jinx forever.

2. Knicks stay alive in Indiana, June 3, 1994, Market Square Arena, Indianapolis

       When the New York Knicks took the floor against the Indiana Pacers on June 3, 1994, it wasn’t just the series on the line or even the season. In Market Square Arena for Game 6 of their Eastern Conference Finals, the Knicks had an entire generation at stake.

       The Knicks’ quest for their first NBA finals since 1973 had fallen short in the two previous years to the Chicago Bulls. Ah well, the consolation went, no one else could stop Michael Jordan either. But with Jordan gone the East was supposed to be New York’s. However, with the series tied at 2-2, they’d watched their Game 5 lead evaporate as Reggie Miller shot them senseless with 25 fourth-quarter points amidst a slew of Knick turnovers to steal the home court advantage.

If the Knicks capitulated in Game 6 it would be time to blow up this lineup and start over. In Indianapolis John Starks called a team meeting in Patrick Ewing’s hotel room then went out on June 3rd and carried the Knicks early on his way to a 26-point effort while stifling Miller for three quarters.

The Knicks, who’d surprise everyone by finishing the game with 25 fast break points to the Pacers’ 2, maintained their early lead, holding an 80-69 advantage after three quarters.        But Miller finally shook loose. He opened the fourth by draining a three then scored six of Indiana’s next 14 points; his 10-foot leaner in the lane with 5:54 left narrowed the margin to 88-86.

But with just over two minutes left and the chance to give Indiana a 92-91 lead, , Miller missed one of two foul shots, leaving the game tied. New York would not allow another point.

With 1:50 left, Derek Harper buried a 17-footer. After Starks hit one foul shot he and Harper sealed the deal on defense. Starks hounded Miller so the Pacers couldn’t get him the ball for a game-tying 3-pointer; Derrick McKey missed his jumper instead. Then when Vern Fleming had what seemed like a fast-break layup with 25 seconds left Harper suddenly appeared and slapped the ball away for his fifth steal, the team’s seventeenth. The Pacers were done. The Knicks finished with a 98-91 win. They were going back to New York…and they were going on to the NBA finals.

THE JETS PULL OUT A SURPRISING WIN

1. Jets beat Bengals 44-17 on Freeman McNeil’s 202 yards, January 9, 1983, Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati

       Sometimes the offense carries a team. Sometimes the defense steps up. But when everything gels, the rout is on.

The New York Jets’ 6-3 record in the strike-shortened 1982 season put them in the playoffs but on the road as underdogs. On January 9, 1983 at Cincinnati’s Riverfront Stadium it initially the Bengals--the defending AFC champs—might blow them out as they grabbed a 14-3 lead. But then the Jets defense mercilessly hounded quarterback Ken Anderson while New York running back Freeman McNeil nearly grounds out a new record.

       Even without the injured Joe Klecko, the Jets’ Sack Exchange flung Anderson for losses four times and two Mark Gastineau sacks forced Anderson out temporarily. The linebackers and secondary, knowing Anderson loved throwing short, aggressively dared him to go deep. He couldn’t and the Jets picked off three passes, including Darrol Ray’s interception on his own two, which he ran back 98 yards to permanently erase the Bengal’s lead.

       By contrast, Richard Todd had plenty of time and exploited it, completing 20 of 28 passes for 269 yards. He had such leverage because McNeil had happy feet, twice running for 35 yards and once for a 20-yard touchdown. The sole misstep was a stat snafu that deprived McNeil of the playoff rushing record. With four minutes left the Jets learned he had tied the record of 206 yards and sent him back for one play on which he gained five more. But afterwards someone noticed that McNeil, who wore uniform number 24, was credited with nine yards run by number 42, Bruce Harper. So McNeil really finished with 202 yards, averaging 9.6 yards on his 21 carries. Not too shabby, especially adding in his 14-yard TD pass on an option to Derrick Gaffney. It’s that kind of day, a 44-17 laugher, the Jets’ first post-season win since a certain game against Baltimore back in 1969.

2. Johnny Green saves the troubled Titans franchise with five TDs in 46-45 comeback on Thanksgiving, 1962, Denver

       You can’t spell Titanic without Titan and in the AFL’s earliest days it seemed the fledgling league’s New York franchise resembled that grandly conceived but doomed ship.

       In its third season, 1962, the team lacked major talent and was decimated by injuries but it faced bigger problems off the field, where it was virtually bankrupt and on the verge of sinking. Owner Harry Wismer put the club up for sale but without a rescuer in sight the struggling league was forced to step in and pay the players.

        The dispirited 4-6 club faced a Thanksgiving game in Denver against the 7-4 Broncos. It would be only one of three AFL games aired nationally that season and the league needed the positive exposure of a competitive game, not an embarrassment.

       The Titans surprised everyone by grabbing a 24-13 lead but the Broncos bucked back for a 27-24 lead; then the teeter tottered twice more-- the Titans reclaimed the lead only to watch it vanished into the thin air of the Mile High City as Denver surged ahead 45-32 in the fourth.

The Titans should have been finished but in the huddle Johnny Green—the sixth man to play quarterback for the club this season-- inspired his team, declaring, “With two we’ve got a winner.”

He finished the first, a 65-yard drive, with a six-yard touchdown pass. The Titans recovered a fumble on Denver’s 20 and Green fired his fifth touchdown pass, a three-yarder to finish off a stunning 46-45 comeback. Although the club lost the season’s last three games, this big win gave the players hope for a better future and the league a taste of what big market excitement on national television could mean.

GIANTS DO-OR-DIE WINS

1. The Giants begin their road to the championship,  December 7th, 1958, Detroit

       Even the most casual football fan knows about “The Greatest Game Ever Played,”       the 1958 NFL championship game between the New York Giants and Baltimore Colts. Most serious fans have heard about the Giants’ ’58 season finale against Cleveland when Pat Summerall kept their hopes alive by booting a long field goal through the snow. And real Big Blue aficionados may recall something about the do-or-die game in between those two, the special tie-breaking playoff against Cleveland when the Giant defense completely shut down Jim Brown.

       But Week 11, on December 7th in Detroit, that’s the forgotten classic. The Giants had started just 2-2 and after losing in Week 8 were 5-3, a game behind Cleveland. As Cleveland won each week after that New York had no margin for error—every game was do-or-die. By the time they reached Detroit, the Giants were just one week away from their showdown with Cleveland. They desperately wanted that game to matter.

       In the 15-degree weather the Giants surged to a 12-0 lead on a safety and a field goal in the first quarter and a six-yard TD pass from Charlie Conerly to Alex Webster in the second. Jim Patton ran wild on defense intercepting two passes and recovering a fumble that set up the touchdown.

       Detroit crept back, adding a field goal in the second and a 67-yard touchdown drive in the third to make it 12-10. Then disaster struck Conerly fumbled trying to hand it off and Lion rookie Wayne Walker grabbed it and raced 34 yards for a touchdown. The Lions led 17-12.

       But this was a team that—until they encountered Johnny Unitas—always came through in the clutch, making the big plays on both offense and defense. They rallied to win with some of each and a little luck thrown in.

Early in the fourth, the Giants made a big defensive stand then caught a huge break when the Lions committed the strangest of gaffes. The Giants forced the Lions out of their territory and back to their own 44, where Detroit faced a 4th-and-21. On a play ordered by coach George Wilson, Lion punter Yale Lary faked the kick and tried to run. The Giants reacted quickly and forced Lary out with just a one-yard gain.

On the next play, Conerly found Bob Schnelker for a 34-yard completion. A field goal, however, would not be enough at this point. Three running plays got New York inside the 2. On fourth down, Gifford plunged through the right tackle. Earlier in the game, the refs had ruled against the Giants on a similar play. This time, Gifford clearly got enough for the first down. Even better, the ref threw up his hands to signal that the Giant star had, in fact, reached the end zone. 19-17, New York.

Detroit staged one last drive, reaching New York’s 25 before the defense finally hardened. With 1:21 left to play, Jim Martin came on to kick a field goal. If it was good, Detroit would have a 20-19 lead. But Martin’s ball never got going—Giant linebacker Harland Svare broke through and blocked that kick. The Giants had hung on, keeping their championship hopes alive at least one more week.

2.  Giants reach championship with big win over Philadelphia, December 10, 1961, Franklin Field, Philadelphia

       It was wet and it was foggy. It was sloppy and it was ugly. But it was a win, thrilling and crucial, and on December 10th, 1961 at Philadelphia’s Franklin Field, it helped catapult the New York Giants back into the NFL championship for fourth time in six years.

The Giants headed into the season’s penultimate weekend possessing the Eastern Conference’s best offense and best defense but the Eagles had matched their 9-3 record. This game would decide who went to the championship game.

 After a grand start—a 46-yard TD pass from Y.A. Tittle to Del Shofner barely two minutes in, the Giants got careless, fumbling the ball away on three of their next five drives. By the end of the first New York trailed 10-7.

New York seemed flustered, the New York Times wrote, by the defense’s “jitterbugging tactics” so midway through the second quarter, coach Allie Sherman replaced the veteran Tittle with the ancient Charlie Conerly. The 40-year-old immediately regained the lead with a 35-yard touchdown pass.

       After the Giants recovered a fumble on the Eagles’ 26 to start the third quarter, Conerly capitalized, firing to Shofner at the 5; the receiver then dragged a defender into the end zone. The Giants followed that with a defensive stand on their own four.

Penalties helped New York as much as their own play. There’d be 223 yards worth of whistles, 137 against the Eagles. In the fourth, the Eagles had a touchdown called back and were found guilty of roughing-the-kicker-- Conerly responded after the latter with an eight-play, 63-yard drive. New York held on for a 28-24 win—which meant that even though Philadelphia won the next week while the Giants only tied Cleveland, it was the Giants who moved on to the NFL championship.

3. Giants whomp the Redskins, December 10, 1944, Griffith Stadium, Washington

       This is how rivalries are forged for history.

       Between 1933 and 1942 only two teams won the NFL East: The New York Giants, who finished first five times and the Washington Redskins, who’d finished first four. In 1943 the New York Giants forced a first place tie with the Washington Redskins by beating the ‘Skins in the final two weeks of the season. But Washington dumped New York 28-0 at the Polo Grounds in a special tie-breaker to win its fifth title

       In the closing weeks of the 1944 season, the two teams were at it again. Both were 6-1-1 after eight games, while the Philadelphia Eagles were 5-1-2. This time, the Giants exacted revenge. First they beat Washington at home, edging by 14-10. But Philadelphia won as well to stay just off the lead. Then New York traveled to Washington for the final game on December 10. It wasn’t even close. The Giants forced quarterback Sammy Baugh into two fumbles early on, jumping to a 14-0 first quarter lead on two touchdown passes by Arnie Herber. Washington threatened twice in the second but both times New York stopped them inside the 20. In the third, New York’s leading rusher Bill Paschal got hurt so the offense returned to the air as Herber fired a 44-yard TD pass to Ward Cuff to ice the game. For good measure, the Giants rubbed Washington’s face in it, piling on 10 fourth-quarter points for a 31-0 rout. There was no doubt which was the first team to earn six Eastern Conference crowns.

WE ARE ST. JOHN’S

St. John’s reaches the Final 4, March 24, 1985, Denver McNichols Arena

The 1985 NCAA tourney will always be remembered for the Villanova’s shocking upset of Georgetown in the finals, but the tournament also marked St. John’s greatest post-season in thirty-three years as they reached the Final Four for the first time since 1952, making it the only time the Big East ever had three teams attain that level at once.

The final two roadblocks for St. John’s were Kentucky and North Carolina State, the same teams Frank McGuire’s Redmen vanquished in ‘52. At Denver’s McNichols Arena, St. John’s made quick work of Kentucky, 86-70 before edging NC State in the West Regional Finals on March 24.

Up just 30-29 at the half, St. John’s found its groove at the foul line. Chris Mullin, who scored 25 and played the last five minutes with four fouls, hit two big free throws with 3:35 left to give St. John’s an 8-point lead. But NC State closed to 59-55 and in the closing minutes their coach Jim Valvano purposely had his players foul Ron Stewart, the St. John’s senior who had just embarrassed himself with an air ball from the free throw line. But Stewart hit all four foul shots to put the game away.

Even though Georgetown then dismissed them in the semis, just reaching the Final Four was a thrill. “After a thousand games, this is the one I'm going to remember,” coach Lou Carnesecca said after beating NC State. “When I'm going in the grave, this is the one I'll remember.”

ANOTHER WILD AND WACKY MARATHON

Dodgers break loose in the 17th inning, September 15, 1941, Crosley Field Cincinnati

On September 15, 1941, in the midst of an endless road trip, in the heat of their first pennant race in two decades, the Brooklyn Dodgers find themselves at Cincinnati’s Crosley Field, trapped in a game that seemed it might never end.

       If Brooklyn lost that day their lead over St. Louis would shrink to one game. So they sent out Johnny Allen, who had been thought washed-up at 35 before they’d rescued him off waivers. It was just his third start and first in over a month but he showed no rust and plenty of heat—he nearly fought Reds manager Bill McKechnie in the fourth inning and stifled the Reds on one infield hit through the first nine.

       Brooklyn couldn’t hit Paul Derringer either, however, and the scoreless game chugged along. Allen finally was removed after nearly collapsing while running to first in the 16th. The umpires declared they’d play one more inning although the setting sun had already severely reduced visibility.

       In the 17th, Pete Reiser, the rookie superstar who saved the Dodgers all season long, slammed a home run. The Reds-- desperate to get play halted for darkness (reverting the score to 0-0)—stalled blatantly, switching pitchers, dropping balls on purpose, and letting four runs cross, even as the Dodgers purposely slowed to a crawl on the basepaths.

Umpire Larry Goetz warned that he’d finish no matter what. But the bottom of the 17th nearly wrecked that plan when Brooklyn reliever Hugh Casey lost the strike zone in his haste to beat the setting sun—he allowed one run in and Cincinnati got the tying run to the plate before Brooklyn finally escaped with a crucial 5-1 victory en route to 100 wins and their first National League pennant since 1920.

OVERLOOKED BASKETBALL GEMS

Harlem Rens win the first World Championship, March 28th, 1939, Chicago Coliseum

In 1939, after years of enduring every racial indignity imaginable while winning endless barnstorming trips, the all-black New York Rens showed up the nation’s best white teams to win the first official national pro basketball crown, the inaugural World Professional Tournament.

       Formed in 1923, the Renaissance—named for the Harlem Renaissance Ballroom where they played home games—demonstrated an instant flair for the game,

pioneering a passing-oriented motion offense and helping introduce the pick-and-roll. Their faster, more wide-open game enabled them to beat just about every white team except the Original Celtics, the New York-based team widely acclaimed as basketball’s best. Match-ups with the Celtics drew up to 15,000 fans and helped pro basketball gain an audience.

Still, discrimination kept the Rens out of the fledging American Basketball League back then (the Celtics refused to join in remarkable show of solidarity) and on road trips they had trouble finding quarters or places to eat. In the Midwest, they’d base themselves in Chicago or Indianapolis and drive hundreds of miles each day to and from games in small, unwelcoming towns.

The Rens learned from the Celtics and in 1932 began beating them. That year the Rens won 88 in a row. “I have never seen a team play better team basketball," legendary coach and one-time Rens opponent John Wooden said.

       But the Rens remained outsiders so when the Chicago Herald-American sponsored the World Professional Tournament (which would last until 1948) the Rens knew this was the best chance to cement their stature. They won four games in three days, beating teams from Benton Harbor, Michigan and New York in one day, then edging the tournament’s only other black team, the Harlem Globetrotters (a group born in Chicago that had taken the New York-based name to capitalize on the Rens’ success) the next.

In the finals on March 28th the Rens faced off at the Chicago Coliseum against the Oshkosh All-Stars, champions of the professional National Basketball League, an NBA forerunner. But the Rens were not intimidated and led by tournament MVP Pop Gates and Puggy Bell, who topped all scorers with 12 points, the Rens prevailed, 34-25.

       Afterwards, team founder Bob Douglas bought jackets for his players that read “N.Y. Rens Colored World Champions.” Upon receiving the gift John Isaacs asked Douglas for a razor blade then carefully sliced out the word “Colored.”

“You're ruining the jacket,” Douglas reportedly said, but Isaacs didn’t see it that way at all.

“No,” he said. “I just made it real.”

The Liberty Long Shot, September 4, 1999, Houston

       With the clock expiring and her team down by two points, Teresa Weatherspoon got the ball some 60 feet from the basket. The season was just about over as the New York Liberty were about to fall in the WNBA Finals—once again—to the Houston Comets.

       The Liberty, as Greg Prince, co-founder of the “Fear and Faith in Flushing” blog has noted, were “unwitting spiritual sisters to the Mets…demonstrating the same disturbing tendencies” in terms of the “close sans cigar” syndrome that the Mets of 1998-2000 suffered. The Liberty came up short once again in 1999 but on September 4, sandwiched between the Knicks’ thrilling ride to the NBA finals and the Mets surprising  run to the brink of the World Series, Weatherspoon gave Liberty fans a memory of their own to cherish.

       The Liberty had lost the first game of the best-of-three championship and trailed Houston 37-23 early in the second. They clawed back in and even led briefly near the end but when the Comets seized a 67-65 lead with 2.4 seconds left it seemed over. The Comets were so confident that as Weatherspoon grabbed the final inbound pass and took two quick dribbles, they released its celebratory confetti from the rafters. WNBA officials began wheeling out the championship trophy. Then Weatherspoon let fly with four-tenths of a second left. Accounts vary as to whether she was 47, 50 or 52 feet away but for the Liberty the distance suddenly shrank from too far to nothing…but net as her shot fell through for a stunning 68-67 life preserver of a victory. It was the WNBA equivalent of a Grand Slam Single

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